3 Cutting-Edge Interior Design Trends

Design sensibilities are always in flux, and designs that looked great in the past may look dated today. Recent design trends, however, seem like they’ll have longevity, and modern design has become ingrained in our collective conscious. Those who are able to understand these three cutting-edge interior design trends will be better able to create great spaces for themselves and for their clients.

Minimalist Design

Interior designers often fought against clean and simple design motifs. If simplicity is better, who needs to rely on interior design? However, designers eventually began to realize that simplicity is much more complex than many imagine. Designs need to be functional, and removing elements isn’t always an option. Being able to reduce the number of elements used in a design can give homeowners more inviting spaces, and simple designs helps make accent pieces stand out.

Minimalism is more of a guideline that a set of instructions, and there are multiple interpretations of it. While reducing rooms to as few components as possible is important, being able to add the right decorative elements will require some expertise. Minimalism isn’t easy, but those who focus on it will prepare themselves to do well in the modern interior design field.

Eco-Friendly Design

As more and more people become aware of their carbon footprints, they demand eco-friendly design solutions. So-called green design is similar in many ways to modern design, but the differences are important to understand. Instead of focusing on what materials look best, this design trend suggests using elements that have a small impact on the environment.

Modern design emphasizes new elements; green design makes recycled elements look better. Beauty is subjective, and green elements that would formerly be regarded as ugly are increasingly being viewed as beautiful. Some have claimed that green design shouldn’t be considered a true interior design trend, but classes of design elements are easy to recognize, and they can affect how rooms look as the public’s view of them changes. One example of this is ivory. Ivory used to be considered beautiful, but public reaction to it means that even fake ivory pieces are now viewed as unattractive.

Color as a Design Element

While color has long been a critical element of design, is was often relegated to second-class status. These days, color itself is being viewed as an essential element that can transform a room.

Perhaps the best example of this is accent walls. Modern design suggests using neutral wall coloring in general, but painting a wall a decidedly non-neutral color can transform the look of a room. Terms like “color splashes” have entered the vocabulary of modern interior designers, and knowing how to use color most effectively can help interior designers stand out.

Design is always changing, and it is important for students at interior design colleges to learn which cutting-edge trends are simply fads and which will stick around for decades to come. However, many believe that the three interior design trends outlined above are here to stay, and those who learn how to take advantage of those trends will position themselves to succeed for the foreseeable future.